These authors contributed equally to this work. SUMMARYThe plant family 1 UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are the biggest GT family in plants, which are responsible for transferring sugar moieties onto a variety of small molecules, and control many metabolic processes; however, their physiological significance in planta is largely unknown. Here, we revealed that two Arabidopsis glycosyltransferase genes, UGT79B2 and UGT79B3, could be strongly induced by various abiotic stresses, including cold, salt and drought stresses. Overexpression of UGT79B2/B3 significantly enhanced plant tolerance to low temperatures as well as drought and salt stresses, whereas the ugt79b2/b3 double mutants generated by RNAi (RNA interference) and CRISPR-Cas9 strategies were more susceptible to adverse conditions. Interestingly, the expression of UGT79B2 and UGT79B3 is directly controlled by CBF1 (CRT/DRE-binding factor 1, also named DREB1B) in response to low temperatures. Furthermore, we identified the enzyme activities of UGT79B2/B3 in adding UDP-rhamnose to cyanidin and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside. Ectopic expression of UGT79B2/B3 significantly increased the anthocyanin accumulation, and enhanced the antioxidant activity in coping with abiotic stresses, whereas the ugt79b2/b3 double mutants showed reduced anthocyanin levels. When overexpressing UGT79B2/B3 in tt18 (transparent testa 18), a mutant that cannot synthesize anthocyanins, both genes fail to improve plant adaptation to stress. Taken together, we demonstrate that UGT79B2 and UGT79B3, identified as anthocyanin rhamnosyltransferases, are regulated by CBF1 and confer abiotic stress tolerance via modulating anthocyanin accumulation.

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All‐inorganic CsPbI3 quantum dots (QDs) have shown great potential in photovoltaic applications. However, their performance has been limited by defects and phase stability. Herein, an anion/cation synergy strategy to improve the structural stability of CsPbI3 QDs and reduce the pivotal iodine vacancy (VI) defect states is proposed. The Zn‐doped CsPbI3 (Zn:CsPbI3) QDs have been successfully synthesized employing ZnI2 as the dopant to provide Zn2+ and extra I−. Theoretical calculations and experimental results demonstrate that the Zn:CsPbI3 QDs show better thermodynamic stability and higher photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) compared to the pristine CsPbI3 QDs. The doping of Zn in CsPbI3 QDs increases the formation energy and Goldschmidt tolerance factor, thereby improving the thermodynamic stability. The additional I− helps to reduce the VI defects during the synthesis of CsPbI3 QDs, resulting in the higher PLQY. More importantly, the synergistic effect of Zn2+ and I− in CsPbI3 QDs can prevent the iodine loss during the fabrication of CsPbI3 QD film, inhibiting the formation of new VI defect states in the construction of solar cells. Consequently, the anion/cation synergy strategy affords the CsPbI3 quantum dot solar cells (QDSC) a power conversion efficiency over 16%, which is among the best efficiencies for perovskite QDSCs.

Hole transfer material (HTM)‐free, carbon‐based all‐inorganic perovskite solar cells (C‐PSCs) are promising alternatives to conventional organic–inorganic hybrid PSCs in addressing thermal and moisture instability issues. However, the energy level mismatch between the inorganic perovskite and carbon electrode coupled, together with the incapability of the carbon electrode to reflect incident light for reabsorption, limits the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of C‐PSCs. To address these issues, herein, a new strategy of a hexyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB)‐modified CsPbI2Br perovskite surface is devised to reduce this energy offset from 0.70 to 0.32 eV and increase the built‐in potential by 70 mV for the final devices. Additionally, a CsPbI2Br perovskite film with a thickness of up to 800 nm is realized via a hot‐flow‐assisted spin coating approach in an ambient atmosphere with humidity of less than 80%. Reduced energy offset coupled with suppressed charge recombination and thick perovskite layer boosts the champion PCE of CsPbI2Br C‐PSCs to 14.3% (Jsc = 14.1 mA cm−2, Voc = 1.26 V, and fill factor = 0.806), and the average PCE to 13.9% under one sun illumination. A new certified efficiency record of 14.0% is obtained for HTM‐free inorganic C‐PSCs. Meanwhile, the moisture‐resistant barrier from the alkyl chain in HTAB improves the stability of the final devices.

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The relationship between thyroid dysfunction and metabolic syndrome (MS) is complex. We aimed to explore the impact of gender and age on their association in a large Chinese cohort.This cross-sectional study enrolled 13,855 participants (8532 male, 5323 female), who self-reported as healthy without any known previous diseases. Clinical data including anthropometric measurements, thyroid function, and serum metabolic parameters were collected. The associations between thyroid function and MS of both genders were analyzed separately after dividing thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and age into subgroups. MS risks were calculated by binary logistic regression models.Young males had significantly higher MS prevalence than females, yet after menopause, females had higher prevalence than males. Females had higher incidence of thyroid dysfunction than males. By using TSH quartiles as the categorical variables and the lowest quartile as reference, significantly increased MS risk was demonstrated in quartile 4 for males, yet quartiles 3 and 4 for females. By using FT3 quartiles as the categorical variables, significantly increased MS risk was demonstrated in quartile 2 to 4 for females only. By using age subgroups as the categorical variables, significantly increased MS risk was shown in both genders, with females (4.408–58.455) higher than males (2.588–4.943).Gender and age had substantial influence on thyroid function and MS. Females with high TSH and high FT3 had higher MS risks than males. Aging was a risk for MS, especially for females. Urgent need is necessary to initiate interventional programs.

CFEM domain commonly occurs in fungal extracellular membrane proteins. To provide insights for understanding putative functions of CFEM, we investigate the evolutionary dynamics of CFEM domains by systematic comparative genomic analyses among diverse animals, plants, and more than 100 fungal species, which are representative across the entire group of fungi. We here show that CFEM domain is unique to fungi. Experiments using tissue culture demonstrate that the CFEM-containing ESTs in some plants originate from endophytic fungi. We also find that CFEM domain does not occur in all fungi. Its single origin dates to the most recent common ancestors of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, instead of multiple origins. Although the length and architecture of CFEM domains are relatively conserved, the domain-number varies significantly among different fungal species. In general, pathogenic fungi have a larger number of domains compared to other species. Domain-expansion across fungal genomes appears to be driven by domain duplication and gene duplication via recombination. These findings generate a clear evolutionary trajectory of CFEM domains and provide novel insights into the functional exchange of CFEM-containing proteins from cell-surface components to mediators in host-pathogen interactions.